


The Heart of the Proposal

by starduchess



Category: SpaceCamp (1986)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 16:15:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1096018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starduchess/pseuds/starduchess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kathryn has pitched this proposal three times already to the Major and been shot down each time. Finally she finds the missing piece to her proposal. She hopes it will work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Heart of the Proposal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thesleepingsatellite](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesleepingsatellite/gifts).



> Dear, I enjoyed this movie as a kid and I'm sure you did, too. I really liked the idea of following Kathryn in her career after Space Camp. I hope you approve!

Kathryn Fairly walked over to Control’s conference area, where Josh Stratton was already waiting for her at the table. “Hope I didn’t keep you too long, Josh. I got caught talking with the agricultural hydroponics manager. He had a proposal drawn up for a full ecosystem with bugs and algae and fish as well as the water and plants. I think he even had a bee farm listed, you know, for flower pollination and honey production. I told him we couldn’t carry that much payload.” She laughed.

Stratton smiled in understanding. “Sounds like you had a good meeting.”

She nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t think he realizes how short a time frame we’re contemplating, at least for the first mission.”

“Better to be prepared though,” he said.

“Yeah, I know. Every possible scenario has to be plotted and run. So can we get down to your part of the plan?”

“Of course.” Stratton started pulling up schematic drawings, equipment lists, dry run printouts, and calculated analyses. “My crew’s been working months on the computer systems. It was no hardship to start with the original three programs we had and modify two of them for redundancy, but understanding the Oriental and the African systems took a lot longer than anticipated. We had to build new motherboards for the African one; it’s such a different concept, as you can see here.” He pointed to one set of drawings she was unfamiliar with out of the seven, the oriental one catching her attention as well.

“Is there a write-up for how different all systems work independently and together? What happens when they are in conflict?”

“We’ve got a full report here for the Major to review. You can take all of this with you. When are you going to see her again?”

“In three more weeks. I’ve got to read through all this myself, and I still have meetings with the psychologists and doctors, who are really concerned with mental illness and long-range coping, and another thousand scenarios worked up by Loss Prevention.” She sighed and put her hands on her face, massaging her forehead and temples. “Honestly, Josh, I hope she approves this new report. I’m running out of stamina trying to cover every base.”

Stratton eyed her critically, one finger tracing over his lips in thought. “You know, Kathryn, it might not be how hard everyone’s working on this or how thorough are your methods.”

She looked confused and disheartened. “What else could it be, then? What haven’t I done?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know that it’s what you have or haven’t done, so much as it might be how you are presenting it.”

“I try to be as systematic and straight-forward as I can, with a balance of summaries and specific facts that I think she needs to know to make a proper decision. I bring everything with me just in case she has further questions, too. It seems to be how she operates.”

Stratton raised his eyebrows. “Ah, that might be it. Yeah, she operates like that once she’s on-board for a project, but you first have to capture her attention.”

“I thought I was doing that. The facts should speak for themselves, not to mention how critical--” 

“Not with facts, but with motivations. She has to be made to see how important this work is, why you care about, why she should care about it.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks.” She looked more hopeful after that.

He smiled. “Good luck.”

\--

Kathryn was in Major Francine Myers’ office for the fourth time giving her proposal speech. She’d understood what Stratton said and planned to talk about that, but after her factual logistics. “I’ve gone over all the reports again with the latest information. We’ve got systems fitted for seven algorithms, two of another three which are redundant and the remaining two are from widely different backgrounds, guaranteeing there won’t be a mistake in the calculations.” She pulled out a chart diagram. “And here is the diagram of how decisions are made when they are in conflict.” 

She then brought out a folder with a stack of calculations and pointed to the summary page. “Structural has plans measured out to the one-hundred-millionth decimal place.” She left that on the Major’s desk and brought out another folder. “And last, but not least, if fact it’s very important to our survival, Loss Prevention has more than five thousand crisis scenarios lined up and ready for testing along with triple that in safety protocols.”

“Yes, but this has all happened before. You plan for what you think are the worst possibilities, yet it’s the unknown ones that get you. No one can know everything ahead of time.”

“I understand that, sir, which is why I’ve set up my teams with proven flexibility, stamina and creativity. Any problem that gets thrown our way, we can work through.”

The Major was looking stern, yet attentive, same as the previous times Kathryn had tried this pitch. “But it’s not just a problem-solving attitude necessary for this to succeed.”

“I know that, sir. I learned that lesson years ago on the Atlantis. I can have every i dotted and every t crossed, but it will be for nothing if I don’t have a command center led by wisdom, intuition, and goals driven by human needs.” Kathryn leaned over the desk to better confront the Major. “And that’s what we have here, a very basic human need to explore. We need to go up there and test our limits. We need to see what we’re capable of, to push ourselves to excel further than any humans gone before. Please, let us do this.”

The Major looked pensive. She’d heard the logistics spiel a hundred times before from Kathryn and it had not moved her to action, but this new plea had something more in it, more about why this was so important to so many, why this was worthy of spending so much time and money on. “The whole gambit is risky,” she said.

“And we wouldn’t be the great human race if we didn’t take those risks. Please, we need to do this for us as a people to keep moving forward.”

The two glared at each other for a long minute, the Major with grave seriousness and Kathryn with fierce determination. Finally, the Major nodded her consent.

“Correct, Kathryn. It all needs to be grounded in the human spirit. That was something you were lacking in your proposal for a long time. I’m glad you found it.” She looked down at the report and pressed her hand on it. “Approved. Have your team assembled. I want a timetable estimate and regular reports.”

She smiled. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

\---

Kathryn walked into the conference room on her own floor to the wary yet hopeful faces of her comrades. They had been turned down numerous times and it was hard keeping up a positive atmosphere, but now she knew they would have a reason to celebrate. All that patience and perseverance had paid off.

“Congratulations, people. The Major approved our proposal. We’re going to Mars.”

The cheers and shouts of excitement were deafening. Kathryn couldn’t be more proud of herself.


End file.
